Norris, 42, has been a constant in the lives of her seven children, and the lives of many other kids in Anderson, she said.

"He has been a mentor for my children," Miles said. "With Kevin stepping in — we call him the community dad — he takes the burden off of not having a physical male role model in the home."

Naturally, when Norris asked if Miles' two youngest sons would like to join him in delivering Christmas cards to Anderson residents in need, she said yes. Their "Community Dad" was taking on the role of "Community Santa," and she was more than happy to see her sons, ages 13 and 11, become a part of that.

"He just started spreading cheer to everybody, no matter how dangerous the neighborhood," Miles said. "I was very confident in allowing my children to go and walk with him."

Norris said he tries not to stereotype, but he does target the poorer neighborhoods in Anderson where people might benefit greater from his cards. He spent every Saturday in December walking through a different area of Anderson. During the last weekend before Christmas, he delivered cards in the neighborhood where he grew up.

"Why not give back to the community that helped me?" Norris said. "I know my mom couldn’t have done it on her own. People say it takes a village to raise a child, and I'm proof."

Norris said he's mindful of the areas he walks through. He'll avoid some streets if he knows they might encounter dogs, and he's always careful to knock on doors gently.

"I tell them don’t knock hard like you're the police," Norris said.

One woman, Norris said, started crying when he handed her a Christmas card and a $20 Target gift card someone donated to his effort. He circled back to her house at the end of the day to give her another $80 in gift cards. She responded with more tears.

She needed $100 to buy Christmas gifts for her kids, he said, and she had no idea how she was going to pull the money together in time until he knocked on her door.

"I said, 'Ma'am, I'm going to tell you right now if you cry, I'm going to walk away,'" Norris said. "I'm thinking about stuff that I've been through and why I'm doing what I'm doing now ... I said, 'You were one of the ones that really touched my heart.'"

Kevin Norris, at right, goes up to someone's house to deliver a Christmas card. The 42-year-old Anderson resident delivered hundreds of Christmas cards to people in need in Anderson this year.(Photo: Contributed)

Norris isn't able to give every person a gift card, but he makes sure to put a personal touch on every card he hands out.

"What I do is personal," Norris said. "I want people to know I took the time to sign my name on every card."

This is the second year he's been doling out Christmas cards.

Two years ago, he went through a bout of depression during the holiday season. In order to get through it, he said he decided to find a simple way to give back to his community and put a smile on the faces of his friends and neighbors.

"People who know me, they know I come up with ideas spur of the moment," Norris said. "I wanted to go through the community and pass out Christmas cards. You can buy them in boxes and they're easy to get, and I just wanted to give that love back to the people in the community."

Miles said she remembers calling and checking in on Norris. She said a tree had fallen on his house and then he lost his job. He was in the midst of depression and completely out of character.

"It's so much that Kevin does — he has so much to offer the community," Miles said. "I don't know what would happen if we had to wake up one day and there's no more Mr. Kevin around."

Miles said exposing her kids to that level of generosity is important to her. Their "community dad" has already taught them about the value of giving to others simply in how he carries himself, she said.

"It doesn’t have to be financially or materialistic things — he's giving of himself," Miles said. "Anything he can do for you, he will."